Sunday, 30 August 2015

The security agency in Nigeria on Sunday said it
had made significant breakthroughs in the fight against the Islamic sect and had
arrested about 20 prominent members of the militant Islamist group accused of masterminding deadly attacks.
President Muhammadu Buhari has made stopping the sect six-year
insurgency a priority, but a Reuters tally shows that the militants have
killed more than 700 people in Nigeria in bomb attacks and shootings
since he assume office on May 29.

In the latest violence, around 56 people were killed by suspected
Boko Haram gunmen at a village in northeastern Borno state on Friday
night, Borno state governor Kashim Shettima said late on Saturday.

The Department of State Services (DSS) said on Sunday that 20
"notable commanders and frontline members" of the jihadist group had
been arrested in Lagos, Kano, Plateau, Enugu and Gombe states between
July 8 and Aug. 25 this year.

The DSS said it had arrested those suspected of coordinating attacks
earlier this year in the northern cities of Potiskum, Kano and Zaria, as
well as the central city of Jos, adding that a number of them had made
confessions.

"This followed the rounding up of notable commanders and frontline
members of the notorious group from different parts of the country," DSS
spokesman Tony Opuiyo said in a statement.

Providing an unusual level of detail, the DSS said one of those
arrested, Usman Shuaibu, had confessed to leading a team of nine
militants which planned several attacks. Others were accused of ordering
attacks, preparing bombs and strapping explosives to suicide bombers.

"The arrest of Usman Shuaibu, aka Money, and the core members of his
cell, stemmed the spate of bombings by the extremist sect," said Opuiyo.

Boko Haram's campaign to create a state adhering to strict Islamic
law in the northeast of Africa's most populous country has left
thousands dead and forced around 1.5 million people to flee their homes
since 2009.

The insurgents scattered earlier this year after an army
counter-offensive, but have since returned to a strategy of selective
attacks in which they have bombed or fired on targets in public places
such as markets and places of worship.

Opuiyo said the geographical spread of the arrests suggested the
militants were moving beyond their usual targets in the northeast to
other areas, including Lagos state.

On Saturday, the DSS said it had uncovered a spy cell run by
militants at the international airport in the capital Abuja, apparently
aimed at selecting targets for attack.

Buhari has been working with neighboring states to set up an 8,700-strong regional military task force to fight the insurgency.

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